It’s crucial for businesses to track employee engagement statistics. They provide valuable insights that can directly impact a company’s success. Knowledge of these statistics can also form the basis for a strategic approach to understanding your workforce and making data-driven decisions to improve your business.
Key benefits include improved business performance, reduced costs, and a way to create a positive work environment.
Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2023 Report paints a daunting picture, with only 23% of employees classified as engaged. The report indicates that a significant portion of the global workforce (59%) isn’t disengaged and 18% are actively disengaged. This lack of emotional connection suggests a general lack of motivation and productivity within the global workforce.
Gallup started measuring global employee engagement in 2009, and they have dependable data. In the graph below, based on Gallup’s published statistics, you can see that the percentage of employees who were engaged and thriving at work peaked in 2022. That is the figure that is quoted in their 2023 report.
Statistics that record employee engagement vary from country to country. For example, 31% of employees are actively engaged at work in the US and Canada, and 20% in sub-Saharan Africa. At present, according to Gallup, South Asia leads the world in employee engagement with 33% classified as being actively engaged. But in Europe, only 13% of employees are thriving at work.
Employees in South East Asia top the list of actively disengaged employees at 6%. In Australia and New Zealand, as well as Latin America and the Caribbean, this figure is 11%. The US/Canada and East Asian figure for actively disengaged employees is 17%, while at 15% it is slightly lower in Europe. In South Asia (amazingly), at 21%, it’s heading towards a quarter of employees who are actively disengaged.
What is Employee Engagement?
Employee engagement refers to the level of emotional connection, commitment, and enthusiasm employees have toward their work, colleagues, and organization as a whole. Engaged employees are deeply invested in their roles. They demonstrate a genuine passion for their work and a willingness to go above and beyond to contribute to the success of the company.
Engaged employees are not only more productive but also contribute to higher levels of customer satisfaction, innovation, and profitability. They are more likely to remain loyal to the organization, reducing turnover rates and associated recruitment costs. Furthermore, engaged employees serve as brand ambassadors, positively impacting the company’s reputation both internally and externally.
A workplace culture that prioritizes employee engagement also attracts top talent. This is because job seekers are drawn to organizations where they feel valued, supported, and empowered to excel in their roles.
Furthermore, the Gallup 2023 report states that engagement has 3.8 times more influence on employee stress than location. And that applies to on-site, hybrid, and fully remote locations.
It is important to track your employee engagement data and have fresh insights into your workforce activity. Or, if you don’t have the capacity to do this, you can refer to other sources to get an idea. We have prepared a list of 20 of the most interesting and useful employee engagement statistics you can use in your communication strategy or when talking about employee engagement in general.
Where Do These Employee Engagement Statistics Come From?
We kicked off with statistics from Gallup, and have included several more stats from them. But there are many other reliable sources.
For the record, we make sure our data is fresh and trustworthy by getting it directly from dependable sources. We’re serious about keeping our data accurate. We don’t use middlemen. We go right to the original sources like surveys, case studies, or research reports. This way, you can trust that the information we provide is the real deal.
Our stats are current. Don’t accept other sources that deliver data five or ten years old.
20 Employee Engagement Statistics for 2024
Most of these statistics are the result of surveys undertaken in 2022 or 2023. It takes time to do surveys and even more time to analyze them. They are invaluable, because they enable us to look ahead and use the insights to improve employee engagement in our organizations.
- 23% of the global workforce is highly engaged
In its State of the Global Workplace 2023 survey, undertaken in 2022, Gallup found that 23% of the world’s employees were engaged at work. As mentioned earlier, this is the highest level since Gallup began measuring global employee engagement in 2009. Although engagement declined in 2020, it has already overtaken this previous high, returning to its historically positive trend.
Source: Gallup
- The percentage of actively disengaged workers has declined from 18% in 2022 to 16% in 2023
Active disengagement, which is also known as “loud quitting”, reached an all-time low of 13% in 2018 and 2019. Its 2023 report shows that this figure has risen to 18%. Furthermore, Unfortunately, Gallup’s 2023 stats show that 59% of employees are “quiet quitting,” which means they simply aren’t engaged — even though they aren’t actively disengaged.
Source: Gallup
- 32% of companies think that employee disengagement is one of the most impactful barriers to success in 2024
According to Gallagher’s State of the Sector 2023/24 survey findings, engaging employees has proved to be the second most important challenge in 2024. Other challenges that made it into the top three are lack of time and capacity, and a lack of budget or financial resources.
Source: Gallagher
- Low engagement costs the global economy $8.8 trillion
According to Gallup, this huge cost accounts for 9% of the global GDP. It’s more than enough to make the difference between success and failure, not only for individual organizations, but for world economies.
Source: Gallup
- 92% of executives report that engaged employees perform better and 56% say they’ve achieved a positive ROI as a result
The Quantum Workplace Driving Employee Success Employee Engagement Trends 2023 Report also shows that 62% of employees reckon their organizations have achieved positive results from their investments in employee engagement.
Source: Quantum Workspace
- Businesses with highly engaged teams show 23% greater profitability, 43% less employee turnover, and 10% higher customer loyalty
The Gallup Q12 Survey, which has been revised and updated many times, remains the most stalwart engagement survey ever.
In addition to the statistics mentioned above, they have recently found that there is 81% less absenteeism and 66% higher well-being for employees.
Source: Gallup
- 60% of employees can’t fathom what their organizations are doing to increase engagement
Research by Gartner found that this is in part because “engagement” is a human resources (HR) term that doesn’t resonate with employees. Because of this, it’s important for HR professionals to use a common language that employees understand. They suggest talking about experiences and people rather than employee engagement.
- 70% of how much a team is engaged is determined solely by the manager
Managers are responsible for clarifying work expectations, providing support and advocacy for employees as needed. This highlights how significant their work is in relation to achieving organizational goals.
However, many managers struggle to initiate regular discussions that are meaningful. This can make employees see their actions as micromanagement instead of offering proper guidance and resources. Unfortunately, this hampers their ability to guide and support teams effectively.
Source: Gallup
- Only 19% of CHROs believe their managers know how to act on engagement feedback
The 2Q23 Gartner survey that drew on the expertise of 144 chief human resources officers (CHROs) found that managers are responsible for 10 out of 12 actions to engage employees. But only 19% of CHROs said they believe their managers know how to act on employee feedback regarding engagement.
Source: Gartner
- The engagement of workers younger than 35 rose two points but is still five points behind its peak level of 40% in 2020
Gallup made this statement in a 2024 Workplace post written by Jim Harter, the company’s chief scientist of Workplace Management and Wellbeing.
He states that only 45% clearly know what is expected of them at work. Younger workers have improved by seven percentage points in terms of clarity of expectations. But they are still seven points behind 2020, pre-pandemic levels.
Source: Gallup
- 25% of employees say weekly office happy hours are the top office perk that keeps them engaged
The Riverbed Global Digital Employee Experience (DEX) Survey 2023 reports that employee identify weekly office happy hours as the top office perk. Interestingly, the top “perk” is seen to be a seamless digital experience — 49% vs 25%. Only 14% said free coffee and snacks was the top office perk, and 11% identified company merchandise and giveaways as their favorite perks.
Source: Riverbed
- Some healthcare organizations have managed to increase employee engagement by 164% in just one year by implementing employee engagement software
We identified this statistic as a result of collaboration between Cerkl and TriHealth. After launching Cerkl, employee engagement increased by 164%. Now the TriHealth team is saving 40 hours a month while better engaging their employees. Read more in our blog post by Rachel Folz, Health System Saves Time, Improves Employee Engagement.
- 53% of engaged employees say they’re comfortable with AI at work, versus 30% of disengaged employees
Qualtrics’ Employee Experience Trends 2024 reports that the more engaged employees are, the more willing they are to use AI at work. Their research points to 65% of senior C-suite employees being comfortable with AI, versus 46% of managers.
“Generally, the more positive you feel about your organization – the more trust you have in it – and the more senior your role, the more likely you are to believe that your organization will use AI for your benefit.”
Sarah Marrs, Qualtrics
Source: Qualtrics
- Employees who say their company culture is positive are 3.8 times more likely to be engaged
Disengaged employees are 2.6 times more likely to leave their organization for a company with a “better” culture. This shows that 60% of disengaged workers would quit because they are dissatisfied with the company culture. This percentage drops to 23% when employees are engaged.
What this means, they say, is that a positive workplace culture is one of the best ways to drive employee engagement.
Source: Quantum Workplace
- 63% of employees rate four-day workweeks as a top reason to take a new job
According to Gartner’s 9 Future of Work Trends for 2024, a four-day workweek, taking the concept “from radical to routine.” This makes it the top new, innovative benefit that will attract employees to a new job.
Source: Gartner
- 58% of remote workers report feeling engaged compared to 30% who are unengaged
Buffer’s State Of Remote Work 2023 report indicates that close to half of remote workers (48%) feel more energized than they did the previous year. In stark contrast, 21% say they feel burnt out and 30% are simply unengaged. A small number (12%) say they don’t assess engagement and are neither engaged nor unengaged.
Source: Buffer
- Levels of engagement are 8.4 times higher and employees’ intent to stay is 5 times greater when organizations show differences matter
Kincentric’s Global Trends in Employee Engagement 2022 report shows that higher levels of engagement are closely related to a higher level of diversity and inclusion. It all begins with employers asking employees the right question to better understand their experiences, says Anuradha Hebbar, Kincentric’s DE&I global practice leader. Then they need to dig deep into the data to understand what differences matter.
“Organizations seeking to improve engagement must intentionally embed DEI in the employee experience to create a culture in which all employees are respected, feel like they belong and are valued to be able to contribute their best.”
Anuradha Hebbar, Kincentric
Source: Kincentric
- Gen Z employees rate their level of engagement at work at 7.14/10 — significantly lower than employees of other generations
Grammarly’s The State of Business Communication 2023 report shows that when confidence in an organization’s communication is high, this can increase employee engagement and productivity.
Level of engagement at work comparison across different generations, on a scale of 1 to 10:
- 7.14/10 Gen Z
- 7.63/10 Millennial
- 7.72/10 Gen X
- 7.94/10 Baby Boomer
Source: Grammarly
- Employees show 3.2 times higher levels of engagement at work when company recognition drives D&I
Vantage Circle’s Global Industry Report on the Impact of Employee Engagement Driving Diversity and Inclusion shows that employee engagement and diversity and inclusion (D&I) go hand-in-hand.
It indicates that employees show higher levels of engagement at companies where recognition drives D&I. However, different employee engagement platforms have a greater impact than others. For instance:
- 31.25% when open communication is encouraged via an interactive platform
- 26.25% when employees are encouraged to actively participate in virtual wellness challenges
- 22.50% when they seek anonymous employee feedback via pulse surveys
- 20.00% when employers track and analyze patterns of recognition
Source: Vantage Circle
- People who are not burned out are 49% more engaged
According to Infinite Potential’s The State of Workplace Burnout 2023 shows that engagement, psychological safety, and belonging “a high, negative correlation” to burnout. At the same time, the impact of these organizational support factors has an incredible ability to potentially prevent burnout.
While 49% of employees who aren’t burned out are more engaged,
- 50% feel more psychological safety
- 30% have a higher sense of belonging
- 217% feel more supported by their organization
Source: Infinite Potential
What’s Next?
You’ve read about the global statistics that relate to employee engagement. How do the metrics from your organization compare? Do you know?
A lot has to do with your internal communication strategy. Do you know whether it’s working for your business? Do you make an active attempt to collect employee feedback and measure employee engagement on an ongoing basis?
We’ve created an employee engagement survey template that will help you do this – and it’s free for you to use. It’ll help find out whether employees in your organization are engaged and feeling happy and fulfilled in their roles. You can use the survey template as is, or adapt it to meet more specific needs.
If it turns out that your communications strategy isn’t working too well, Cerkl Broadcast has solutions you may not even realize exist. Don’t hold back… we’re ready to help you turn your internal communications around.
FAQ
Employee engagement is crucial because engaged workers are more productive and profitable. They also deliver better customer service, leading to a stronger business.
As Gallup tells us, actively disengaged employees are unhappy and uninvested in their work. They are more likely to be negative influences on colleagues and put less effort into their tasks.
Employee engagement statistics show a clear connection between happy, motivated employees and an organization’s success. They point to areas where companies can improve work culture and practices to retain top talent and achieve better results.
